


The Shadow Parade

by VisualStain



Series: Creative Writing Challenges [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Also a missing person, Also doing text messages in writing is hard, Of course teenagers try and look for their friend themselves., Oh boy more character death!, Shadow magic, carnivals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-05
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-04-19 00:19:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14225010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VisualStain/pseuds/VisualStain
Summary: When their best friend goes missing, Zilla and Dee try their best to find him. But at what cost?Based on the prompt: a magic trick, a shadow, and a missing friend.





	The Shadow Parade

**Author's Note:**

> Quick trigger warning for implied suicide!

“Come one, come all, to the majestic Shadow Parade!” The Ringmaster’s voice faded into a faint murmur the further I walked away from the carnival. I shuddered because of a chill that ran up my back just from walking by the place. I always hated carnivals. They were just so… Unsettling. Than always jokingly told me that it was because the clowns were in my likeness. I miss him.

My best friend Than had gone missing about a week ago. His family and the rest of town have already declared that he’s never coming back. That he’s dead. I’ve never stopped my search, I  _ will _ never stop my search. Not until I find Than. He never gave up on me, especially not when I needed him most, I won’t give up on him.

Sighing, I placed another missing poster on another telephone pole. I wasn’t even sure what part of town I was in anymore, it all had blended together. I looked around, every surface I could see had Than’s face plastered on it. Hopefully this actually gets some results.

An alert came from my phone, it was from Dee. Dee, Than, and I had been best friends since childhood. Dee was the only other person who didn’t give up on the search. Unfortunately Dee was in a wheelchair, so I was the only one who could physically search. Dee did what they did best though, research.

If something existed on the internet, a computer, or a phone, Dee could find it. With new hope, I looked at the message.

 

New message from DeeMaster:  _ so i was digging around thans credit card record and i found something _

 

_ the last thing he bought was a ticket to the carnival _

 

_ and get this _

 

_ it was from the day before he disappeared _

 

My blood went cold. Of course it was a god damned carnival. Those things are terrifying. I would have to be the one to investigate too. It was the only option. I sent a message to Dee.

 

New messages from DeeMaster:  _ you sure about this zilla? _

 

_ i know you hate carnivals _

 

I sent them back a message of reassurance. I’d be fine. Dee told me to stay safe, and I put my phone on silent. Time to go investigate the Shadow Parade.

 

After buying a ticket from the vendor, I was in. Immediately, various shades of purple, gray, and gold assaulted my eyes. It took a second to adjust.

I made my way slowly to the Big Top. There wasn’t anything suspicious that I could see: kids were running around and dragging their reluctant parents around. Game and candy booths lined the paths. And then there were clowns. I shuddered and gave them a wide berth. I always hated clowns.

A nagging feeling raised the goosebumps on my arms, and it intensified the closer I got to the Big Top. I was afraid. Realizing I was afraid made my paranoia even worse. I hadn’t been afraid since—no. Not thinking about that. This is for Than, I have to put my feelings aside, for him. I walked through the opening to the Big Top.

 

“Hello! Ladies, gentlemen, and the supernatural; we welcome you to the one and only, Shadow Parade!” The crowd went wild, cheering. At a single gesture from the Ringmaster’s gloved hand, they fell silent. I felt like I could have gotten whiplash from how fast it happened.

“Prepare to be amazed, and, as always, enjoy the show!” With that, and another round of applause, the circus began.

The circus seemed just as boring and mundane as one would expect. I was on the verge of giving up hope. I thought this was the lead I needed to find Than, but it looked like another dead end. The circus was drawing to a close, there was only one act left.

The Ringmaster hopped up on his platform and clapped his hands to applaud the acrobats that just finished their routine.

“And now, my dear audience,” he yelled. “Is the moment you’ve all been waiting for!” The Ringmaster’s arms stretched out to his sides as he basked in the praise from the audience. “Now, I will ask for complete silence as our stars take stage. I won’t keep all you  _ good _ people waiting any longer. Welcome on, the Shadows!”

Instead of leaving his platform like before, the Ringmaster stood unmoving, not even resting his arms. I got an odd feeling of foreboding in my stomach. It was made worse when I saw the Shadows.

I was expecting people in black morph suits. What I got was nothing I could have ever imagined. From out of nowhere, the shadows of objects in the Big top shifted and writhed on the ground before slowly peeling away from the dirt floor.

The uncomfortably human-shaped Shadows drifted across towards the audience. I was in awe, these things were way above any of the parlour tricks we had seen so far. Before any of the Shadows could actually reach the audience, they were pulled back towards the middle by some unseeable force. The Ringmaster kept his arms out.

Slowly, he raised his arms straight up. As he did, a tornado of Shadows formed around him. Every Shadow was pulled back to the middle, with a few stragglers falling behind.

The Shadow closest to me was one of those stragglers. It’s shape was familiar, I had the strangest sense of deja vu while staring at it. Suddenly, I heard a voice.

“ _ Zilla… _ ” The voice was quiet, but it was definitely my name. I stared at the Shadow in front of me in horror as everything clicked.

The Shadow was Than. I didn’t know how or why, but I knew it. Before I could call out to it—him. Another straggler knocked into Than, sending both Shadows spiraling into the middle tornado. My mind reeled. I barely noticed that the Ringmaster was speaking again.

“Thank you all for coming to our fabulous show! I’ll see all you  _ good _ people next time.” He waved at the audience, and almost all at once, people got up and left. There was so much commotion I got swept up in the mess of people.

On my way home, I started planning. I was going to save Than from whatever the Ringmaster did to him. I would do it if it was the last thing I did.

 

In hindsight, I should have told Dee or the cops or anyone that I was sneaking into the carnival. I didn’t though, I felt like it was something I had to do alone.

The carnival at night was even more creepy than during the day. But for some reason, instead of wanting to run away, I felt drawn toward it. The carnival beckoned me closer, like it was begging me to rescue Than.

 

It was almost pitch black inside the Big top, the only light came from a spot light that was focused on a single table in the center. I stepped up to it, and saw a black top hat with a purple ribbon upside down on the table. I recognized it as the Ringmaster’s.

I tried to pick the hat up, but it was stuck. Figuring something really heavy was inside, I stuck my hand down. I felt something metal and grabbed it.

It was a gun. I dropped it like it burned.

“ _ Zilla…” _ Than’s faint voice was back. I whipped my head around, trying to find the source. When I turned back to the table, I fell back in shock.

The Ringmaster stood behind it, dusting off his hat and placing it back on his head with a grin. The gun laid in the middle of the table.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here? All the good little boys and girls are asleep, so I wasn’t expecting any visitors.” The Ringmaster smiled wider, it seemed to stretch from ear to ear. “But then again, you are no good little child, are you?” He looked into my eyes. My hand shot to the gun on the table and I trained it on him. My hand shook.

The Ringmaster smiled even wider, sharp teeth glinting in the spotlight. His eyes were a black abyss. I was terrified. “Come now,” he said slyly. “Is that any way to treat your host? Besides,” he stepped forwards and around the table. My shaking increased as he pressed his chest into the end of the gun. “Didn’t you promise your  _ friends _ that you wouldn’t do this again?”

How much did this asshole know? A hand fell on my shoulder and I jumped in fright. My finger clenched on the trigger and shot the Ringmaster point blank in the chest. He fell backwards.

I looked over my shoulder, all I saw was Than’s face. He looked so disappointed, disgusted, in me. I looked down and saw the blood on my hands. More than what came from the Ringmaster alone.

I heard laughter, starting slow and raising in both frequency and volume. My head shot over to where the Ringmaster lay. He stood up slowly, clutching his chest. “Naughty, naughty,” he laughed again, and raised one of his arms to the side.

I felt my own arm bend, the cold metal of the gun rested against my temple.

“Hey kid,” the Ringmaster said. “Wanna see a magic trick?”

 

Too bright. Too noisy. Too pure and sweet. Father’s voice rang through the stadium.

“Welcome on, the Shadows!” Ahh… release. My chains relaxed, but not enough. Never enough.

My brothers, sisters and I went around examining the audience. We all wanted to be the one who found the rotten in the crowd of sweet. We all wanted to be Father’s favourite.

A acrid rotten smell caught my attention. I went towards the person it came from. They were out of place, with their serious expression and wheelchair. I found the rotten, and I smiled.

“ _ Dee… _ ”


End file.
